Welcome!

This body of work began sometime in the mid 1990's, as an experiment, seeing if I could adhere a dress to a canvas and create a painting over all the textures. "Dress painting" is a term I came up with to explain these when I simply couldn't think of anything better. Over the years they have evolved, with new elements of collage being added. Dress patterns, photographs, and embroidery all appear from time to time, as well as lino block prints, rubber stamps and gold leaf. I will use this space to explore the beginnings of this series, as well as showing my latest work. If the piece is available for sale you'll find the price at the bottom. Free shipping in the U.S. Contact me at kallencole@aol.com to purchase.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

I would pull small editions of linocut prints. I used the reductive process, carving a block, printing from it, and carving the same block further. I was always searching for the perfect print, and constantly rejecting a print that had a blemish, a dot of dust, a dry "sparkly" area.

But now? Oh yes, printmaking is obviously in my blood, because I am back at it. Linocuts have become a very strong part of my dress paintings, and now, my new body of abstract work.

But now I get to ignore the rules. I can apply ink thickly and painterly, or dry and almost translucent. I can shift colors with no worries of an "edition". And blemishes? Bring it! Crinkles and folds, sparkle and all.

Yeah, I'm kinda having fun with this. And the abstracts have their very own shows coming up!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Truth be told, I have been working like a field hand. Well, not really, but you get the idea. I finished my last show for the year, took a couple of weeks to regroup after a lot of travel, and opened my commission drawer.

My commission drawer is a new thing this year, every so often someone would send something, I'd take notes, put all the precious bits with the notes, and put it in the commission drawer. When I finally opened it, it was a bit of an archeological dig. The deeper I went, the further back in time I was for promised delivery dates. Fortunately, you are all very patient.

But, after a starting process that was like pulling the cord on an ancient lawnmower, I am moving forward. The table above shows the five pieces that will be done before Christmas, and there are still a couple in the drawer for the first of the year. Hopefully I shot this photo with enough discretion that no one will spot their gift!

Have you ever considered a commission? Feel free to contact me, and be patient!

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About Me

I have two blogs which I try to tend to regularly, Dresspaintings, and (Elle)ements. The dresspaintings are "the big girls" multi paneled mixed media paintings, and the (Elle)ements are little elements of the big pieces. 4" square canvases containing fragments and bits of stories from "the big girls." I hope you enjoy them all!